Fewer Americans applied for unemployment benefits last week with layoffs remaining low despite a weakening labor market. U.S. applications for jobless claims fell to 199,000 for the week ending Dec. 27, a drop of 16,000 from the previous week, the Labor Department reported Wednesday. Analysts surve yed by the data firm FactSet forecast 208,000 new applications. Unemployment benefit filings are often distorted during holiday-shortened weeks. The shorter week can cause some who have lost jobs to delay filing claims. The weekly report was released a day early due to the New Year’s Day holiday. Applications for unemployment aid are viewed as a proxy for layoffs and are close to a real-time indicator of the health of the job market. Earlier this month, the government reported that the U.S. gained a decent 64,000 jobs in November but lost 105,000 in October as federal workers departed after cutbacks by the Trump administration. That helped to push the unemployment rate up to 4.6% last month, the highest since 2021. Read the full story.    ...read more read less